Art Brussels 2025
Discovery Section
Booth: 6B-20
RAVNIKAR
www.ravnikar.org
www.ravnikargallery.space
Helena Tahir
The Last Sector
ريخألا†عاطقل
In her most personal and vulnerable project to date, Helena Tahir unravels her father’s long concealed past and an unknown part of her family history by travelling for the first time to Iraq, her father’s homeland, which he left due to a repressive political situation and has not returned to since. The Last Sector (2024–) is a fragmented narrative composed of the artist’s personal impressions from the trip, stories from her family members and forgotten memories of a certain period in her father’s life. By interweaving deeply intimate stories with concrete historical and political circumstances, she explores the themes of (not) belonging, displacement and identity.
Her artistic practice is characterised by an exploration of printmaking principles, which she extends to other media, including drawing, photography and painting. In The Last Sector, photographs from family albums, outlined family trees, personal letters, family video tapes and found paperwork are entwined with analogue photographs from her journey and blue transfer drawings made with carbon tracing paper. The visually saturated, fractured works in her distinctive style reflect the meditative and detailed artistic process while emphasising the fragmented nature of the project that tries to avoid straightforward storytelling.
The project title is a reference to the 38th Sector in Sadr City, the impoverished suburbs of Baghdad where Helena’s father’s family lives. Before her father’s emigration in the 70s, this particular section was the furthest and outermost part of these suburbs and still retains its name “The Last Sector” despite subsequent developments. On the other hand, the title symbolically refers to the remoteness of past truths that the artist had to unveil to better understand her present and reconcile some conflicting aspects of her own identity.
The viewer uncovers the meaning of the works, piecing together snippets of the story in a way that resembles an archaeological excavation or a forensic investigation. This process forms a new, cohesive narrative, shedding light on the artist’s efforts to connect with her family. A heartfelt tribute to her father marks the start of a longer journey, one that the artist plans to continue as she delves further into exploring her family’s heritage.
Helena Tahir (1991) primarily works in the fields of printmaking and drawing. She graduated with honours from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Printmaking and a Master’s degree in Painting. During her studies, she attended the Faculty of Fine Arts in Porto and the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. She has showcased her work in several solo exhibitions, including at the International Graphic Centre in Ljubljana (MGLC) (2025, 2020), ARCO Lisboa (2024), RAVNIKAR (2024, 2022), the Ravne Gallery of KGLU (2021) and the Lamut Salon in Kostanjevica na Krki (2018). Additionally, she has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. Her works are part of various private and public collections. She further enriches her artistic practice by teaching as an Assistant Professor at the Printmaking Department at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana.
Available Works
Helena Tahir
Facing South, 2024
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
100 x 70 cm
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 4.800,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
Annazah, 2024
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
120 x 200 cm, tryptich
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 9.300,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
Enki, 2024
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
70 x 100 cm
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 4.800,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
At the Marshes, 2024
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
100 x 70 cm
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 4.800,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
Marshlands, 2025
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
50 x 68 cm
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 3.500,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
Roaming Through The Marshes, 2024
Carbon Tracing Drawing on Paper
70 x 100 cm
Unique piece, framed, UV glass
€ 4.800,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
Peace Be Upon Him, 2024
Modified found object
33 x 22 cm
Unique piece
€ 3.900,00 incl. VAT
Museum Price: 20% Discount Applied
Helena Tahir
The Last Sector
Tracing Back My Fathers Unspoken Past
Artist Book
Language: English
Year: 2024
Dimensions: 19 x 12 cm
Number of pages: 168
Cover type: Softcover
ISBN: 9786084838135
€ 25,00
Contact
Piera Ravnikar
Director & Founder
+386 40 846 069
piera@ravnikar.org
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